I may be a grumpy old man but I don’t understand why people walk around wearing headphones all day. I enjoy listening to my iPod as much as the next person but not at the cost of interacting with people on a regular basis. Whenever I see someone who constantly has headphones on, I think that they’re not interested in interacting with the world around them. If I didn’t want to listen to someone or talk to someone, I would definitely put on some headphones; it’s the musical version of a “Do Not Disturb” sign. And while I sometimes feel like I don’t want people to disturb me, I don’t think it’s good to go through life always listening to headphones.
However, I have recently purchased a lot of new music and I’m having trouble listening to it all. In the past month I’ve gotten new CDs by Maroon 5, Lincoln Park, John Legend & the Roots, Ray LaMontagne and Brooke Fraser. That is a lot of new music and I haven’t really found the time to listen to it all. I had plenty of time to listen to music when I was commuting to Pasadena twice a week for school and driving around all day for work. At this point in my life, though, when I drive 10 minutes to work and sit in an office, I don’t have as much opportunity to listen to music as I once had. This reality has made me think that I should start wearing headphones all day long.
Think about it. I could plug my headphones in as soon as I woke up in the morning and never take them off. I would get 16-18 hours of listening time every day, more than enough to listen to my new music and even mix in some old music. I wouldn’t have to interact with anyone at work, I wouldn’t have to talk to the baristas at Starbucks and I could easily ignore any solicitors outside of Target. The beautiful thing about constantly wearing headphones is that I could still be heard but I just wouldn’t have to listen.
Don’t bother telling me about your day, I’m listening to someone sing about hers.
Don’t bother telling me about ways to help those in need, I’m listening to someone sing about social justice.
Don’t bother telling me about ways to strengthen our relationship, I’m listening to someone sing about love.
If I listened to music all day long, I would get to choose what influenced me; I would get to choose what input I received. And if I didn’t like the message, if I didn’t like the beat, if something was too challenging, then I wouldn’t have to listen to it. If there was any prophetic voice calling me out to change my ways and make a difference, I could just turn up the volume, look interested and nod my head in agreement.
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